UPDATE: Soberanes Fire prompts evacuation warning for Carmel Highlands
A Cal Fire firefighter keeps an eye on the north flank of the
Soberanes Fire from a canyon lookout in Garrapata State Park on the
northern Big Sur coast on Friday. (David Royal - Monterey Herald)
Residents were encouraged to be prepared to leave the area immediately and advised to take any medications, pets and family valuables. A Red Cross Shelter has been opened at Carmel Middle School and the Monterey County SPCA is on hand to assist with companion animals.
Cal Fire reported Saturday morning the Soberanes fire had grown to 1,800 acres and was threatening about 1,000 structures. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office ordered mandatory evacuations of the Palo Colorado area. Friday night a group of Boy Scouts was sheltering in place at Camp Pico Blanco on Palo Colorado Road but according to social media had left the area Saturday morning.
By Tommy Wright
twright@montereyherald.com @wrightscribe on Twitter
Big Sur >> Firefighters faced the difficult task of trying to reach a wildfire that grew to 1,100 acres late Friday south of Garrapata State Park because of rough terrain and lack of roads in the area, Cal Fire said.
A Cal Fire spokesman late Friday said there were “a ton of 911 calls from Carmel Valley” residents who said they could see flames high on the ridge.
As the blaze grew in size, a massive plume of smoke was visible as the sun was setting across the Monterey Peninsula, and the smoke even could be seen in Santa Cruz County across Monterey Bay, according to social media posts.
“We’re having some challenges due to the fact that the fire’s in an area that’s not accessible by roads, so we’re having to fly crews in or have them walk about an hour and a half to get to the fire’s edge,” said Brennan Blue, a Cal Fire unit chief, when explaining how crews had yet to contain even part of the fire. “So we’re currently holding it somewhat in check with aircraft, but it’s a long turnaround time to get resources into the area.”
The Soberanes Fire, located east of Sobranes Creek in the Santa Lucia Range, was first reported about 8:30 a.m. A column of smoke rose above the surrounding mountains as the day continued. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation, Cal Fire sid. No structures are threatened, no injuries have been reported and there are no evacuations. Blue said the fire started in a canyon.
“It started down in the bottom of the drainage, down in the redwood trees, and with the thick vegetation it’s kind of come out of there on both sides,” he said. “We seem to be doing OK and holding our own, but it’s going to be a couple of days worth of work.”
Jonathan Pangburn, a Cal Fire spokesman, said it’s about 2½ miles from the nearest road to the fire.
“We’re making great progress right now and we will continue to do the best we can,” he said. “However, it’s just an extremely remote and rugged area.”
State Parks officials evacuated Garrapata State Park, about five miles north of the fire, Friday morning and closed the part of the park east of Highway 1, said Eric Abma, a California State Parks sector superintendent.
“Certainly through the weekend, the park will be closed on the east end of the highway,” Abma said.
Duane Dykema, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said that while inland areas should be dealing with hot weather this weekend, the area of the fire shouldn’t see quite as high temperatures.
“It probably will still get a pretty good marine influence since it’s pretty close to the ocean,” he said.
High temperatures will likely be in the 70s, according to the weather service’s forecast. Relative humidity should get down to about 50 percent in the canyon Saturday and could get down to 20 to 30 percent on the ridges.
“They’ll see good humidity recovery at night, they’ll probably see the humidity come up to at least 90 percent overnight tonight,” Dykema said.
Dykema said he was hiking in a few miles away from the fire on Thursday and he noticed the difference in weather conditions at the bottom of a canyon as opposed to on the top of the ridge.
“One fortunate aspect is where that fire is, it’s in the base of the canyon, so it’s protected from the winds,” he said.
According to Dykema, Saturday’s forecast for the area calls for winds below 15 mph with gusts possibly reaching 20 mph in the afternoon.
Blue said the fire is burning timber, brush and grass.
“The fuels are very, very dry in that area and you don’t have to go very far from the coast to start getting into the warmer temperatures,” he said. “It’s pretty consistent with the fuels throughout the county, very dry. After going into our fifth year of drought, even though we did have almost normal rainfall this year, that provided us a very robust grass crop that’s under all that old, decadent fuel.”
Blue said those conditions are part of why the state has seen so many fires this summer. He said there are several fires burning throughout the state, including a 25-acre fire burning south of Bradley near Highway 101 and the San Antonio River and multiple fires burning in Southern California. Blue said the fires will compete for resources as the weekend continues. According to Pangburn, about 150 firefighters are fighting the Soberanes Fire, along with six fire engines, eight bulldozers, three helicopters and six air tankers.
“We’re optimistic we can turn the corner on (the Soberanes Fire) Friday night or Saturday morning,” Blue said.
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